Internet of Things (NB-IoT and Massive MTC)

Abstract

Abstract Internet of Things (IoT) is an interconnected network of physical objects (devices) that interact with humans or other physical objects and systems, where communications among machines can be performed without human interaction/supervision. The IoT is considered a driving force behind recent improvements in wireless communications technologies such as 3GPP LTE and NR to satisfy the stringent requirements of massive machine-type communication diverse applications. The IoT use cases have been divided into two main categories: massive IoT and mission-critical IoT. The massive IoT aims to connect a very large number of devices, for example, remote indoor or outdoor sensors, to the cloud-based control and monitoring systems, where the main requirements are low cost, low power consumption, good coverage, and architectural scalability. In contrast, mission-critical IoT applications, for example, remote healthcare, traffic monitoring, and industrial control, require availability and reliability as well as very low latency. Narrowband IoT is an LTE-based cellular radio access technology that provides low-power wide-area connectivity in licensed spectrum. There are already several short-range technologies in unlicensed spectrum and other non-3GPP LPWA technologies that have been developed to address vertically different use cases of industrial IoT. The NB-IoT is optimized for machine-type traffic. It was designed to be as simple as possible to reduce device complexity and to minimize power consumption. Indoor penetration and rural coverage are among the key requirements for the NB-IoT applications, and support of operation in sub-1\xa0GHz bands is considered as crucial for NB-IoT deployments. The NB-IoT further supports improved battery life through extended discontinuous reception and power-saving mode, and improved capacity via multi-carrier operation.